Page 36 of Wishing for Christmas
Clara swallowed. She wrote her answer, crossing her fingers that they had talked about it at some point over the past year. She seriously doubted it, though. This was a topic that didn’t come up much in casual conversation. She knew they hadn’t talked about it during their real, short relationship. Her only hope was that it had come up at some point during the deployment.
“Question three,” Janie said. “What is your partner’s dream vacation destination?”
“In the bag,” Brent said from behind her. “Three for three.” His marker squeaked against the whiteboard.
Dream vacation destination? Clara tapped her marker against her chin. She wasn’t even sure she knew the answer to this herself. Had the two of them talked about going on vacation yet? No, the only plans they’d ever talked about were for Christmas. She racked her brain, trying to come up with a place she would dream of traveling to—one that she would have mentioned to him.
She thought again about Grams and how she’d wanted to go to Paris. Did Clara stay behind to spend the holidays with Brent? She must have, and it made sense that she would. Still, she hated the idea of spending her first Christmas ever without her family.
She needed to write an answer down on the board. Everyone else had finished, and they were all waiting for her. Clarawrinkled her nose. She supposed she had always wanted to go to Italy. She jotted it down.
Clara closed her eyes and said a quick prayer that she and Brent wouldn’t embarrass themselves with what they didn’t know about each other. She made a last-minute bargain with herself that she would tell him everything if only she could make it through this game without revealing the entire hoax. She just needed to convince everyone there that they were a real couple, in love, who had spent the past year getting to know each other the old-fashioned way.
“Now. It’s time to reveal your answers,” Janie said.
The first team flipped over their whiteboards. They were a young couple—actual newlyweds. Clara wasn’t sure if the wife had been enjoying the open bar, or was particularly amused by the game, but she giggled at everything. The husband got two out of the three questions correct, but every answer he revealed caused his wife to dissolve into a fit of laughter that filled the room. When he missed the question about what she’d wanted to be when she grew up—wrongly guessing a dolphin trainer—she practically fell out of her chair. They both were pleased with their showing. They stood and high-fived each other, the wife clutching her husband to keep herself upright.
“Not bad for the first year of marriage, y’all,” Janie said. She moved to the second couple—quite a bit older than the first. “Now, let’s see how a not-so-newlywed couple fared. Let’s see what kind of knowledge twenty years of marriage gets you.”
The veteran husband and wife turned over their whiteboards at the same time. A loud whoop roared through the crowd. It was a perfect match.
“All three correct!” Janie said.
The husband stood up and circled his fist in the air in celebration. The crowd erupted with whistles and cheers.
Clara’s heart pounded. She tried to calm herself with a deep breath. That couple had been married for two decades. Of course they would know everything about each other. Besides, the newlywed couple missed one themselves, and they were actually married. As far as everyone was concerned she and Brent had only been together a year. Maybe she could fake it enough to fool the crowd—and to fool him.
“A good run so far,” Janie said. “Now, Brent. Let’s see what you know about Clara.”
“Everything,” he said as he flipped his board and showed it to the crowd.
Clara did the same with hers. Another round of cheers erupted from the audience. They turned around to face each other so they could compare the boards for themselves. Her mouth dropped. There—written in his neat handwriting—were Brent’s perfectly correct answers.
1. White Christmas
2. Professional ice skater
3. Italy (Tuscany, to be exact)
Clara shook her head in awe. She glanced down again at her answers to make sure she hadn’t imagined them.
1. White Christmas
2. Ice skater
3. Italy
How? It seemed impossible. She hadn’t even known herself—until that very instant—that Tuscany wasexactlywhere shewould pick to go in Italy. It seemed like Brent know her better than she knew herself. She remembered what Will had said about their phone calls. They must have discussed these things at some point over their long chats. The ice skater thing, though, really? They’d talked aboutthat?
Clara swung her legs around so she could give Brent a high five and a peck on the lips. He stood up to showboat for the crowd as the other guy had done. Everyone went wild. She shook her head and rolled her eyes with a smile. Pilots.
She felt her entire body relax with the knowledge that they hadn’t embarrassed themselves. In fact, they were on par with a couple married for twenty years. She was struck with a sudden boost of confidence—not only about the game, but about them as a couple. Besides, playing a game with Brent was fun. Really fun.
Clara wiped the answers from her board to start the next round with a clean slate.
Janie continued the game. “Okay, ladies, now it’s your turn to show what you know about your men.”
Clara nodded. Her mind quickly reeled as she tried her best to conjure up as many random facts as she could based on the conversations they’d had over the past couple of months.
